Maps, books and CDs on this webite

Key to codes used on this site

The Jumble Sale

Advice for anyone seeking maps

With retirement, we have closed our business and are no longer trading as map sellers.

We do have quite a few maps still here. Click on 'Home' top right for more details.

You should be able to identify which series you want, and the probable sheet number by using index maps. Index sheets for most series can be found on the Charles Close Society website.

1:25,000 : How to find a number for the sheet you want
The First Series, dating from the late 1940s is very popular as the maps cover a good area and give a good amount of detail.

We use a 1980s road atlas as a useful and detailed index to both this series, and the Second Series (Pathfinders).
Look in the front of any road atlas, and if it mentions using the National Grid, then one small square on the page is one 1:25,000 First Series map.The maps are numbered using two letters, followed by two digits. Consider Haywards Heath, just north of Brighton. Somewhere on the page will be two large letters TQ.
Haywards Heath is in the centre of a square, and the map is TQ 32. The 3 is the digit for the vertical line forming the left edge of the square, and can be seen at the top and bottom of the line, on the edge of the page. The 2 is the digit for the horizontal line forming the bottom edge of the map, and can be seen on the left and right of the atlas pages.
If you already own a map from this series, compare it to a road atlas and things usually become clear.

For the Second Series format, two First Series sheets usually appear side by side. Thus, SO 28/38 in the Second Series (Pathfinders) consists of sheets SO 28 and SO 38 combined on one sheet.

Maps for legal disputes, rights of way problems, history of your house
The best place to start is to go and see the local council, even if you are in dispute with them. For rights of way, they will hold the Definitive Maps which show all footpaths guaranteed to be legal rights of way.

The largest scale, very detailed maps for most areas will be the 1:2500 (25" to one mile) or even larger for big towns. The County Record/Archive Office should hold copies of the various editions of such plans. Or the local history library. If you need to consult a modern large scale map and cannot find it in a library, try a friendly estate agent, who might have one tucked away somewhere.